Since our distaste for politicians is so palpable, I doubt if any tears will be shed for Amar Singh now that the Supreme Court has lifted a ban on the airing of his phone conversations. Namita Bhandare writes. HT Image Since our distaste for politicians is so palpable, I doubt if any tears will be shed for Amar Singh now that the Supreme Court has lifted a ban on the airing of his phone conversations. The conversations with Bollywood actresses, politicians, businessmen and actresses-turned-politicians aren’t new. Transcripts of these first made the rounds four years ago. Now, they are open…

These days, we often end up seeing doctors to whom a patient is a number, not even a name, writes Namita Bhandare. HT Image I’m a bit of a doctor junkie. Listed in my phone book are numbers for various specialists. I could direct you to a cardiologist, endocrinologist, oncologist, pediatrician, gastroenterologist, gynaecologist. But ask me for a family doctor and I will draw a blank. Growing up, most middle class Indians had one; some lucky ones still do. Mine was genial old Dr Vibhakar who literally had his finger on the family’s pulse. When one of us fell ill,…

I’ll feel a twinge when the last typewriter heads to the museum, writes Namita Bhandare. HT Image News of the imminent death of the manual typewriter sent romantics all over our interconnected planet into a state of gloom. Neither the demise of the vinyl record nor the unsung departure of the rotary dial telephone triggered the sort of lamentation set off by a news report in the Business Standard: Godrej & Boyce, the last frontier for the manual typewriter, was stopping the production of its last brand, the Godrej Prima. The report went viral, inspiring requiems from Auckland to Vancouver.…

Women at the helm in politics at the national and state level might not immediately usher in a new deal for other women everywhere. Namita Bhandare writes. HT Image The headlines are euphoric. Mamata Banerjee, J Jayalalithaa, Mayawati and Sheila Dikshit, just four women now rule over 400 million Indians. Three cheers for gender justice. Yet, there is no skirting the big question: are they about to swing a new deal for India’s women? Some would argue, don’t hold your breath. “They might not be game changers for other women,” says Akhila Sivadas, executive director, Centre for Advocacy and Research.…

Midway through swotting for her geography exam, Ananya, my 15-year-old looked at her watch and said, urgently: “9pm. It’s time to pray for Japan”. I frowned at this unwarranted interruption. We were locating India’s various nuclear power plants from Kaiga to Narora on the map. But this stop-pray-for-Japan had a powerful appeal that went beyond geographic borders. The thought of a world collectively empathising – at the same time – with a stricken nation was hard to resist. We stopped and prayed. HT Image Midway through swotting for her geography exam, Ananya, my 15-year-old looked at her watch and said,…

The middle class, the one-time custodians of moral values, isn’t vigilant enough anymore, writes Namita Bhandare. HT Image At what point in our collective history did we lose our capacity for outrage? I am talking of middle class placidity in the face of outright corruption that seems to be piling up faster than the debris in Delhi’s national stadiums. Some, like the ongoing Commonwealth Games with new scams unfolding by the hour, will cause raised voices in drawing room conversation. Yet, today’s headlines seem destined to becoming tomorrow’s footnotes. We lurch from scam to scandal, but life goes on. Rs…

There is no dearth of role models in India. But those who get recognised are rarely deserving, writes Namita Bhandare. HT Image I’m in search of a hero. By hero I don’t necessarily mean someone of the male persuasion; anyone with heroic qualities that I can look up to and point my children towards will do. Anyone at all — male, female or transgender; Indian, Ethiopian or Belarusian. My search received new impetus after the hero-dom of Steven Slater, the flight attendant who jettisoned himself via emergency chute off his aircraft following an altercation with a passenger. Slater was arrested…

On national networks, anchors with no pretence to journalistic objectivity jump onto the national/anti-national bandwagon over the Kashmir issue: demands to dilute army presence are anti-national. Namita Bhandare writes. HT Image Salman Khan tells a Pakistani TV channel that 26/11 was hyped because the elite were targeted. He is branded an anti-national. Arundhati Roy has admittedly extreme views on nearly everything from Naxals to big dams. Her condemnation of the Indian state leads to the charge: she is an anti-national. Congress MPs say the Commonwealth Games are linked to ‘India’s prestige’, criticism, therefore, is anti-national.Unfortunately for them, the evidence of…

For us, the case is a story. For the Talwars, it’s a battle for justice. Namita Bhandare writes. HT Image I am mystified by our ongoing fascination with the murder two years ago of 14-year-old Aarushi Talwar. Part of our morbid interest, I am guessing, stems from the mysteriousness of this double murder. Despite three investigations — though let’s not accuse the Noida police of anything close to an ‘investigation’ — two from separate CBI teams, we are no closer to the truth about what happened on the night of May 15, 2008, when the ninth grade teenager was killed…

Do artistes and penury have some sort of a tragic, karmic connection? The great Bharat Bhushan (Baiju Bawra, Mirza Ghalib, Barsaat ki Raat) died in abject poverty, writes Namita Bhandare. HT Image Because Subrata Kundu had been fairly regular on the page 3 circuit at a time when I was a fairly regular journalist on page 3, his passing recently caught my eye. You couldn’t miss him, that man with a broad smile and thick mop of hair. Then, suddenly one day, the photographs stopped and newbies with names like Kitty, Monty, Thenny, Ronny took over. I failed to notice…

New Delhi needs more than just grand edifices to join the list of the most liveable cities. Namita Bhandare writes. HT Image I am dumbstruck by the sheer size and scale of Delhi’s new airport Terminal 3. The capital’s latest edifice heralds “a new India, committed to join the ranks of modern, industrialised nations,” says Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Press reports have bordered on gush: a world class hub, the capital’s pride, an ultra-modern edifice to a country’s aspirations. I don’t want to rain on this party, yet, I can’t help feeling: great about the airport, too bad about the…

Arshi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck, the ‘chief royal patron’ of Bhutan’s first-ever literature festival delivers the keynote address at the India House Auditorium. Namita Bhandare elaborates. Talk about journalistic privilege. Ambassador and writer Pavan Varma’s beautiful, willowy daughter Batasha looks at me sympathetically when I whisper to her: “I really have to file.” So, notwithstanding her seven-inch heels, she gamely takes me up through the kitchen and service area to her father’s fabulous wood-panelled study, sits me down on his computer and five minutes later I am in business. Batasha, incidentally, is a journalist, so the empathy is easy to understand.…